Breaking a skull into 61 pieces by a single blunt weapon would be instantly mortal, I think, but that’s not what I read in the article. It says (emphasis added) “including a skull smashed in 61 PLACES”.
Also, https://cfp.dainst.org/25th-european-ppa-meeting/talk/GHF9V8... says: “Patterning of fractures indicates that the focus of impact was around the right shoulder and the back of the cranium, with higher fragmentation in this area”.
I’m not a expert on blunt trauma, but I think that, if the victim got trapped below the projectile, preventing rapid blood loss a bit, unconsciousness due to loss of blood pressure may have taken long enough for the victim to realize they were hit. Still unlikely in my book, though.
It went on to tell how a man had committed suicide by drilling 23 holes in his head.